The power of the intern

I have been doing work experience since the second year, and it something I highly recommend to everyone who is beginning a degree…“start early!”  I have gotten so much out of every experience as it has really consolidated everything I have learnt in university, and in some cases helped me in my degree. On top of the skill and knowledge gained, there are the relationships that are formed that can change the direction of your career. We hear it all the time “network, network, network”, and it is true because the people you work with have connections in the industry and if you can prove your worth then they are more often than not happy to help you move forward in your career.

So for those heading out into internships I would like to pass on some advice from what I have learnt through my experiences. 

• Ask “dumb” questions, people don’t mind answering the easy questions and it shows interest and a want to learn. 
• Always go beyond what is expected, you want to make a good impression, you never know where this opportunity could take you. You will never regret trying hard, but you will always regret if you feel like you didn’t show your best.
•  Push yourself, entering the professional world is scary and you may start out feeling like your not good enough and begin second guessing yourself, but if you don’t try you will never know what you’re capable of. There is no harm in failing, but there is harm if you never tried, and from my experiences it is the times when you pushed yourself outside your comfort zone that end up being the most rewarding. 
• Be organised, it is the key to success. 
• Say ‘yes’ to everything! The beginning is when we really have to make our mark and prove ourselves above the rest and if you take advantage of every opportunity then you will be rewarded.

I hope this helps people heading out in to internships and in to the professional world. Work experience has been the best decisions I have made and has made me even more excited to finish my degree and enter the professional world. 

My FIRST event

It is exciting to get your first media release published for all to see, however for me that was also a moment of panic. The pop-up Style Exchange in Subiaco was going to be my first event that I have done on my own, for my intern company Pro Subi and for the general public. The first published article on the pop-up Style Exchange and the event was going ahead.

I’ll go back to where it all started with being asked to come up with some fresh ideas for Pro Subi’s pop-up initiatives. I took this task to heart, as events management is my idea of a dream job and I really wanted to show my creativity. I took a week to really fine tune some ideas before I pitched them to my supervisors. I was in shock when she loved them all and told me that I had a budget and to go ahead and implement them. I was so excited that my supervisor loved my ideas that the realization that I was now responsible for their success had not hit me yet.

My first task for the event was to secure a location for the event. Pro Subi has, in the past, done a lot of pop-up events in vacant locations in Subiaco that I thought that this would be a breeze, how wrong I was! Securing a location turned out to be the hardest task of them all. Getting hold of leasing agents was a task in itself and in the words of my wise supervisor “stalk, stalk, stalk!” was exactly what I had to do to get a hold of them. At what felt like the last minute, before having to throw in the towel, I had success and promotion could begin and all other decisions could be confirmed.

I had a lot of anxiety, as the days got closer to the event. Would my idea work? Would people show up? Would people enjoy it? What would my supervisors think of the work I had done? Overall it went great, I worked the event and had a great time seeing all my hard work pay off, and getting lots of first hand feedback from the public. I have learnt a lot from this event and how I would do things differently for future events, however I feel that it was a success and achieved the main goals that I had hoped it would.

Events are a great way to connect with audiences and learn about perceptions and opinions on how successful they feel the company is meeting their mission. I have learnt that the key to a successful event (and minimising anxiety) is organisation, even though there are parts that are out of your control the best cure for uncertainty is to be organised for everything within your control.

Working for the Little Guys

My PR placement has been with the small not-for-profit organisation Pro Subi that consists of 2 hard workingwomen who take on all the responsibilities of what is normally handled by an array of different departments within a large organisation.

When I first started with Pro Subi I was concerned that working with such a small organisation my exposure to variety in work and opportunities would be limited, compared with what those doing placement within larger organisations may get. However I feel that the opposite has been true.

In my time with Pro Subi I have been charged with keeping Facebook and the website up to date, writing press releases for various initiates and database entry. These are all things that I have heard all interns’ talk about, but an opportunity that I have been given, that I think is unique to my small organisation placement, is that of developing, organising and executing my own ideas.

Pro Subi has undertaken a series of pop-up performances that utilises vacant retail spaces in Subiaco, providing a variety of performances, galleries, stores and other exciting initiatives. The purpose of these events is to capatilise on the novelty factor, build foot traffic within Subiaco and develop the suburb as a “happening place.”

My job was to think outside the box and develop some events that would work with the Subiaco brand and create buzz. I created a calendar of events that work with what is happening in the economy, within Australia and ties in with other calendar and seasonal events. This has been an unbelievable opportunity that has led to me staying on with the organisation in to execute these events.

From my experiences I have learnt that there are greater opportunities for skill development and professional growth within the smaller organisations, which I believe is due to the limited resources that they have to work with.

I am someone who is looking to going into the resource sector to take advantage of the financial opportunities, as well as the quality training for which the big companies have a reputation. However due to my experiences with Pro Subi, and also attending the Public Relations Student Chapter PR in Mining event where I got to talk with professionals working in my chosen industry I have come to realize that any experience that I gain is worthwhile. I am now not going to just focus on going for the big companies as the smaller ones have a lot to offer and teach me.

Not-for-profits… even for The Profits

When most people think of not-for-profits they think of the ill and the disadvantaged and helping cure a disease or improving quality of life, however my new role is one that challenges this traditional thinking. The members and recipients of the not-for-profit organisation Pro Subi are the businesses of the Subiaco CBD, which varies from bars and cafes, to bookshops and clothing stores. You may ask why these stores need the help, can they not market themselves and handle their own Public Relations. The answer is ‘yes’ they can, however due to increased competition for the decreasing disposable income, the importance of marketing Subiaco as a strong, united brand has bought about the necessity for the work of Pro Subi.

Despite the uniqueness of the beneficiaries of Pro Subi the challenges and rewards of the work are the same. The two employees that run Pro Subi have a passion for what they do, work tirelessly through lunch breaks and battle against limited budgets with high expectations.  I have already experienced the reward of the work that Pro Subi does, as it feels like a community with people interacting and expressing their thanks for the work we do for them not only on an individual level but for the benefits for Subiaco as the brand.

My first jobs in the first few days was database entry, and editing and updating the database, which seems to be the first jobs of many interns and upon assignment is followed by an apology for the tedious nature of the job. I would like to pass on this piece of advice to my fellow PR interns is that database work may not require a tertiary education but do not underestimate its importance. Throughout my time in work experiences I have come to learn the value of this “tedious” jobs, as not only is the database worth a lot of money but also in most cases can lead to the success or failure of events and initiatives.  

Now 8 days into my internship and I can reassuringly tell you that having completed working on the database I have moved on to further utilising my PR skills.